2nd Team Edge Grove started brightly and made inroads in the opposition's half without early success. We only had 9 players available so knew that it was going to be a tough ask when Lochinver had 13 players available to play. Unfortunately we conceded from a cross which wasn't dealt with at the back post and this energised Lochinver and they added a second before half time.
In the second half we started on the front foot and scored within 10 seconds with Niccolo finishing nicely. Olly G and Niccolo were outstanding in defence winning the 50 - 50 balls regularly to keep us in the game. Niki B made a couple of crucial saves as well to keep our hopes up.
In the end we lost 3-1 but there are great signs for the next few games ahead.
3rd Team Our Edge Grove team played so well at our first Football match, with great communication and passing we kept our heads held high. With Lir in goal for the first half he made some cracking saves, with a slight shuffle around at half time Henry faced the goal and also made some exceptional saves. Our 2 goals both came from Jamie with some great speed and power behind him. Well played from all of the team for their determination and excellent play. 4th Team The team faced a well organised team with many substitutions of fresh players. The opposition kept up the pressure on us and by half time we were tiring. During the second half, we played with more determination and prevented Lochinver House from scoring many goals. Hayden had an excellent game as goalie and Max was often the one who rescued the team from the Lochinver House attack. Edge Grove scored by Aarav during the first half in what ended in a 4 - 1 loss. The whole team deserves commendation for perseverance against overwhelming odds.
Colts A A fantastic start to the season as the boys headed to the Haileybury Festival. We played 7 back-to-back 10 minute matches that were 6 a side. The boys played fantastically well throughout and continued to support each other during the afternoon. James M scored some brilliant goals and Kellan K picked up the schools player of the tournament. We are looking forward to the rest of the season which I am sure will be a great success. Well done boys!
Colts B A brilliant first game of the season after so long without fixtures. The boys started with great intensity against a strong opposition of Lochinver, with some fantastic saves from Blake L in goal throughout the game to keep us in it. We struck the first blow with a fierce strike into the top corner from Isaac A-O within the first 5 minutes. Edge Grove did not hold back and with increased pressure up front there came 2 more well worked goals, scored by Kamil I and Oliver C to make it 3-0 at half time. With no subs for us but 4 extra players on the bench for Lochinver the second half was always going to be tough. We showed great resilience and teamwork with energy shrinking to hold off for a 3-2 win. Tobi O and Rahul J showed great determination in defence, with Tobi making a goal line save in the last few minutes, and Henry H pulled the strings with great tactical awareness in the middle. Well done boys keep it up for the next game!
Colts C It was a tough game for Edge Grove as it was their first one of the season. They worked together to build a strong defence against Lochinver. Ronan and Ben worked hard to defend the Edge Grove goal but unfortunately some clever tactics from the other side meant that there a few goals that went unsaved. Edge Grove worked hard to communicate and for the second half of the match the boys worked hard to mark the other team. Well done to all for showing persistence and determination throughout the whole game. I look forward to seeing how the boys continue to progress over the course of the season.
Colts E Our Edge Grove team performed extremely well against very strong opposition, staying focussed on the game plan of passing the ball into space and working as a team. We were not as quick to the ball as Lochinver which meant we spent a lot of time defending however we did keep our shape and Phoebe was solid in defence stopping the Lochinver attacks on a number of occasions. David played well and scored a great goal to get us back to 2 - 1 with a few minutes to go but Lochinver scored a third right near the end of the game.
Colts F This was a hard match for Edge Grove but we played well and never gave up. There were some excellent passes from all our players and Harry R made some tremendous saves in goal. We did have a few attempts on goal but unfortunately Lochinver’s defence was too strong to get past. Moving forward we need to look at our positioning on the pitch and using the whole pitch to our advantage as we were quite bunched up at points. The team showed great sportsmanship throughout the match and stayed determined to win the ball.
Year 4 Football:
Mr McManus’s Team We were really slow to start this game against a very strong Lochinver House team who passed the ball well and were extremely motivated and determined to do well. With us being well done at half time the team talk focussed on us being more determined to be the first player to the ball which saw a marked improvement in our performance. We were well beaten in the end but we did learn a lot and this will hopefully stand us in good stead for the future.
Mrs Massey’s Team Having decided quickly which positions they wanted to take on the pitch, the boys realised they needed more practise getting into a formation. This was the first match for many of the boys against another school and was a big learning opportunity. Although the end result was not what they had hoped, the boys could identify what went well and what they had learnt putting them in a good position for their next match.
Mr Wallis’ Team This was a difficult fixture against a very strong Lochinver House team, after such a long period without fixture’s. Edge Grove started to find some formation and rotated the positions well to help the boys find their feet. We showed some strong defence at times but as we struggled to get the ball forward it was always going to be an upwards battle. We did not get the result we wanted but lots to learn, with emphasis on getting to the ball and making quick decisions with our passes our key aims for the next fixture.
Edge Grove U13 - Haileybury Festival The year 7 and 8 girls had the fantastic opportunity this week to participate in the Haileybury Hockey festival. The girls took part in four matches against Haileybury U12’s and U13’s, Beechwood Park and Kingswood. The girls won one match, drew two and lost one, a fantastic start to the season. They also took part in a teaching session delivered by Haileybury specialist Hockey coaches. A shout out is in order for Mali who is new to Hockey this year and had a fantastic few games at Goalkeeper.
Girls U11 A, B, C v Heath Mount and Beechwood Park The girls played a triangular of matches. Opposition was strong and the pitch was very large but the girls worked well as a team and demonstrated good passing skills. We quickly learnt how important it was to mark a player and get the early tackle in. The teams made good use of all of their players and gained some good experience playing matches again. Special mention to Natasha who played in goal and made some fantastic saves, and to Annabel who had not played a hockey match before joining Edge Grove this term.
Edge Grove U10A v Beechwood Park A Edge Grove 2-2 Beechwood Park
A good start to the season for the Edge Grove A team who showed determination and excellent team work. Edge Grove worked hard to keep possession of the ball and get it into Beechwood Parks dee. Edge Grove had a number of opportunities on goal however many went wide. Determined Lacey kept on going and managed to get on the end of a ball that Annabell had intercepted in the middle of the field. Defence of Keavy and Ophelia continued to work hard to keep Beechwood Park out and managed to distribute the ball well to Sophia. At time Edge Grove became very bunched up and narrow and as a result Beechwood Park capitalised on this and scored two goals. Edge Grove keep on going with Sophia intercepting the ball on many occasion and finally finished the game with another goal from Lacey to end the game 2-2
Edge Grove U10B v Beechwood Park B Edge Grove 5-1 Beechwood Park
An excellent start to the season for the Edge Grove B team saw them storm to victory. Some dominate play from both Roma and Zuriela saw Edge Grove enter the Beechwood Park dee on many occasions however they were unable to come out with any points. An excellent ball into the dee from Ellie allowed Zuriela to put the ball in the back of the net for their first goal, this was followed closely by a second. Edge Grove intercepted the ball again from Beechwood Park centre but this time it was Romas turn to score. Edge Grove worked hard and had a shift round in playing positions, showing excellent versatility. Sophie worked well on the wing ensuring that the play was distributed around the pitch and Cathy moved into the forwards. This allowed for Cathy to take advantage of the space and score a further two goals. Excellent work.
Edge Grove U10C v Beechwood Park C Edge Grove 0-1 Beechwood Park
Edge Grove C’s first game of the season saw an excellent performance from Janna. A slow start from the team allowed Beechwood park to dominate however Esme and Sienna held up the defence ensuring the score was 0-0 at half time. Genevieve worked hard on the wing for her first ever game of hockey but unfortunately Beechwood Park came out firing after half time and scored.